Pharrell Speaks on Uniqlo Collaboration And Working With Nigo, And Says He's Not a Style Icon

Pharrell Williams is certainly a man who wears many hats. After years at the helm of Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream, Skateboard P recently added Uniqlo to his design ventures. In a new interview with Highsnobiety, Pharrell shed some light on his new deal with the Japanese retailer, working with Nigo, and spoke about the Vivienne Westwood hat that sent the Internet into a frenzy three months ago. There's also some talk about how he doesn't think he's a style icon.

“Uniqlo seemed like the best fit for me to be able to help tear down some of these walls of categorizing," he explained. "This was like a really good, giant clothing canvas to allow me to communicate i am OTHER...With Uniqlo you get inexpensive ubiquity and you get quality control and you get the ability to put out good messaging to the world. There’s nothing better.”

It helps that Nigo, who Pharrell says he "admires," is now the creative director at Uniqlo UT. "I want my collaborators to be the best at what they do," Pharrell said. "I usually try to collaborate with masters because they are willing to try something different. And I know in the process, because they are masters, I will learn something.”

As for the now-famous Vivienne Westwood hat that's popped up on numerous occasions since the 2014 Grammys, Pharrell said it's nothing new; he's had it for six years. "At the time, I bought two of them, a brown one and a straw one. I gave an interview on MTV and I was wearing the hat the whole time and nobody paid attention to it. It was New Year’s, so everyone was probably shit-faced and no one cared that I had it on then. I don’t know why it did what it did, but at the end of the day the accolades belong to Disney and Westwood who made it 30 years ago. If anything, their hat stood the test of time and I was just wearing the hat.”

He also admitted that he doesn't think he's a style icon, adding that what he wears what he does to be comfortable not to look for attention.